The public’s dismay and anger at fair life are understandable but not enough. If after acknowledgement of this offense to our sensibilities, we return inertly to comfortable lives of silence and inaction, we become complicit, and that diminishes us, and ultimately our nation. At milkadamia we hold venerable the dignity of the individual rather than the incitement of the mob and don’t encourage taking cues from the actions or values of others – but please do take note of your own values and allow them to inform your response. Expressing our own values in action is self-empowering.
What do YOU stand for? And what will YOU not stand for? It is the values we express and act upon that are the building blocks of our civilization. They sculpt and shape our shared future.
Jewel-Osco was congratulated for acting decisively after being made aware of the pernicious and systematic cruel treatment of cows and calves at Fair Oaks Farms. Theirs was not a financial decision; it likely cost the retailers significantly, added complexity and created some chaos. Theirs was an ethical decision and that is heartening and encouraging.
The question is, can factory farming of animals survive the social media age?
The dairy industry has a large and well-funded PR machine. They employ multitudes of political lobbyists who will soothe and assure Washington and us too if we allow. The workers in the video will be made scapegoats, it will be declared an isolated aberration, the industry will march on.
Dairy cows and their newborn vulnerable calves have no PR agency and no lobbyists, and they can’t speak for themselves – they have only our voices guided by our values. For any who chose to signal their values to corporations like Fair Oaks and Coca-Cola, here’s a tip – they listen most attentively to their sales volume, profit and market-share.
#ItsRChoice
Read more on our belief that moo is moot.
